Quotes from Kurt Vile

I feel like if you sit down and have an assistant engineer and a producer in a top-notch studio and everyone sets up all the mikes perfect, all of a sudden it's really hard to live that melancholy song. It's hard to really live it in the moment.

There's so many ways you can play one chord progression that the repetition isn't ever exactly the same.

Finger-picking, in general, is a hypnotic thing. I feel like I'm more A.D.D. all the time, so the music has to be hypnotic.

I go through ups and downs in the psyche all the time, and then once you start moving again, it's amazing how you can always bounce back. You get, like, in a low rut, and you think, 'This is it; my life is a train wreck.' And then you bounce back again.

There's so many FM hits that I love. Bob Seger, there's two of his songs that I love. I would probably love more, but I don't sit around listening to Bob Seger records. It's the same thing with Tom Petty; he writes amazing hits, but it's not often that I sit around at home listening to a whole Tom Petty album.

There comes a time when you've toured a ton, and a time to be inspired again. Listen to awesome jazz records that are mellow with no words, and just sit there and read a book, or space out on your couch. And eventually, all that inspiration comes.

I'm definitely influenced by Animal Collective. I watched them early on.

I feel like my music is like - there are always new influences in there.

I benefit from a change of scenery; it's always inspiring.

I just try to make as much money as possible. However I can do it. With as much integrity as I can have.

My family was always playing music; I always enjoyed it. My cousin, who is a little older than me, he started playing music, so I wanted to, also. I asked my dad for a guitar, and he got me a banjo, so that was my introduction to playing. I played it like a guitar. I had a few lessons, learned out a few chords, and figured it out right away.

I don't have anything to get off my chest. I'm not itching to prove myself anymore.

I'm joking all the time with my friends, even when we're talking about serious things.

Anybody that's from somewhere that's made it in music outside of New York or L.A., if it's a unique enough place, they'll always say, 'Dude's from Minnesota!' Or wherever, you know? So that's how I got the Philly connection.

I'd say the best thing the Violators and I have done is to dominate the U.S. with an arsenal of smash hits.

'Smoke Ring' was a downer, then 'Wakin' was an upturn.

I proved myself with 'Smoke Ring.' It was me maturing. I made a good pop record.

John Prine in particular... just the chord changes combined with the words. He definitely can make you cry a little bit. Just a little bit.

I want really badly to just be funny in a movie but be close to myself.

I really love that 'I Can Feel the Heart Beating as One' Yo La Tengo record a lot.

I've always been a music fan. I played trumpet. When I was in 4th grade, we were getting demos from the music teacher about different instruments we could play, and I said I wanted to play the trumpet right away. It was easy: it just had three valves.

I actually often write about writing music and being in that zone.

Even when I haven't played in a while, I can sit down and start with a chord, and just drop into it. It's like this tunnel I go into. The zone is where I want to live.

I find that I get nervous before I play. Even sound checks can give me anxiety and screw with my mind. But as long as I can play a little acoustic guitar backstage if I'm feeling nervous, so I don't have to walk in there cold turkey, I'll be fine.